


Le rêve d'une note

by Swordsandthings



Category: IT - Stephen King
Genre: Also the main ship is stenbrough, M/M, Stan luvs his violin, and I'm dumb, and he joins the school band, no penny-wise
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-05
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-11-24 08:28:40
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20904656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Swordsandthings/pseuds/Swordsandthings
Summary: Stan was a simple guy. He was happy with his violin, a book or just by spending an afternoon birdwatching. When he met the losers club he didn't imagine that he would start longing for more and how much it would change his emotions.[P.s. I'm dumb and this turned out only having like 5% focus in music upsi]





	1. tiny and fancy guitar

**Author's Note:**

> This was written by a person that has VERY little music knowledge  
And the title is from a riopy song

Wednesday was going on as usual. It was the third week of school and so far Stan hadn’t gotten any actual friends, not that he cared much about it. He still had people who he could talk casually with. He had a feeling that some people strayed away from him because he wore a kippah but he didn’t care about them anyway. He only cared about music practice. In fact, he had transferred for this school because they had a better music program than his previous one. His parents still thought he was better off following a regular education system while playing violin on the side.

  
The school hallways were starting to empty as people left the school building. Not everyone choose to have an activity after morning classes.

  
The door for the music room was open, there was only one kid inside. During the three weeks Stan had been coming to practice he had learned that the other kid played the flute but sometimes it was a bit hard with his asthma, he had a friend called Richie that liked to touch and play his flute-rather badly- which always ended with the kid screaming at him and complaining that he would have to clean it all over again. Stan could simpatize with that, so he gave him a nod and a smile as he entered the class and sat on his usual seat, down the back of the room. 

  
Some minutes passed and small waves of students joined them. A teen with auburn hair was happily chatting with Richie. He played the piano, that was usually by the back of the room, right besides Stan seat. Last week he had whispered to Stan that he had been making a mistake, turns out he had been playing the wrong chord for two entire weeks. Which was embarrassing for Stan to say the least. He had blushed then, too, but his shame faded into fondness as the kid gave him a smile and kept on playing the piano. He could’ve made fun of him but maybe not all music students were that competitive.

  
Stan started to tune his violin while Richie make dirty jokes about instruments on the background. A couple more teens arrived after Stan had finished his task. He walked to the back of the room to get a partition. He got back to his seat to see Richie eyeing his violin.

  
“Can I touch it?” He asked and before Stan could answer he added, “It’s like a fancy and tiny guitar.”

  
“You can’t, “ Stan picked up the violin and sat down.

  
“Hey Rich, come help me clean the xylophone” A tall guy asked, it wasn’t like the xylophone needed to actually be cleaned but Stan appreciated the effort. There was another person besides him. Stan knew his name. He was Ben Hanscom.

  
The teen had been bullied on his previous school because he was a 'fatso'. He had lost some weight before this school year started and he had tried to get into a sports team but most teachers had said that he would not be good because of his weight. Stan despised those teachers and he couldn’t stop admiring Ben, even after all he seemed like such a kind person. He was also really good with the harp too.

  
Stan looked around the room once again, reminding himself that he should know half of these guys names, after all they had introduced themselves during the first day.  
“Richie! God! Auditions are about to begin!” A girl with red hair said as she stormed inside the room.

  
“Already miss Marsh?” He said with a silly southern accent. “Well wish me luck everyone,” Ben, the tall guy and the piano guy all said good luck, Eddie snickered a whatever asshole, but Stan could see something else on his eyes. 

  
“Break a leg,” The violinist said without fully realising it. Richie smiled and winked at him.  
“Alright students settle down. We will start with professional and fanfare once again. You all already know this from last year so let’s go.” The teacher looked at Stan as he saw him raise his violin, “Oh sorry, Sam, but not today.” The teacher gave him a triangle and he fought the urge to roll his eyes.  
“Its Stan, not Sam.”

  
“Well anyway Stan. The triangle can be a really important part to set a melody and either way you can ask Mike over there.” The guy besides the xylophone waved at him. “To teach you about the xylophone. He usually leaves us during football season and we will need someone to replace him.”

  
Stan nodded, it was better than the triangle.

  


* * *

  
When practice ended Stan put the triangle away and packed his violin. Mike was putting the xylophone in a corner but he smiled when he saw the other teen coming closer to him.  
“There’s not much to know.” He shrugged and with the mallet he touched some random pieces. “I think it’s better if I explain it to you next week before practice.”

  
“Sure.” Stan picked up his backpack but before he could go away the pianist joined them.

  
“Mike? Are you coming.” He was looking at his phone typing something. “Richie said it’s still going to take a while but I guess we can find something to do in the meantime.”

  
“Let’s go to the bleachers. Stan wanna come too? Maybe I can explain you some of the xylophone wonders.” He wiggled his fingers and laughed lowly.

  
That would be a good moment to make some friends but Stan didn’t wanna get along with the dude that played the xylophone and the guy that probably thought he was better than others and that liked to point out their mistakes. His brain had a debate about the pros and cons of going with them and after a couple of minutes he decided to follow them even if he didn’t really know why.  
When the arrived at the bleachers the track team was already gone so they were left unbothered. Ben and Eddie went with the rest of the teens and the four of them were now sitting and eyeing the darkening sky.

  
“So Stan, what do you like to do during your free time?” The pianist that actually was named Bill asked.

  
“Not much, but usually hanging out with a bunch of nerds isn’t in my plans.” He smiled as he spoke. All his life he had heard people call him rude when in reality they just didn’t understand his sense of humour. So now, it came as second nature to smile whenever he made a joke in hopes that people did understand that it was only that.

  
“First,” Eddie started as he raised one finger.” That seemed like a bad pickup line.” He pointed at bill that blushed, “Second,” He pointed at Stan. “You play the triangle. You can’t get more nerdy than that.”

  
“It’s not my fault the teacher doesn’t have any songs that need violin.”

  
“We all know that’s his usual bull. You could play the violin with the songs he hands out but he likes doing shit his way.”

  
“Big bill!” Richie shouted as he opened the school doors, the redheaded girl walked behind him. He kept on shouting a bunch of other nicknames. And when he arrived to them he asked Stan his name. “So Stan the Man. The violin suits you.”

  
“I’m Beverly.” The girl with red hair said. 

  
“Hey.” Stan felt a bit awkward. 

  
“How did the auditions go?”

  
“Bev killed it and I tripped but managed to pass it off. You didn’t need ex me Stanley.” Richie laughed and patted Stan’s back.

  
“Stan is just fine.”

  
“It’s boring.”

  
“Isn’t Stanley boring?” Richie shrugged and adjusted his glasses. Then Beverly took a package of Doritos out of her bag and half of them started fighting for it. Ben gave Stan a smile as he saw that they were the only ones that weren’t interested on it.

  
“I dare you to run a lap around the field for this precious Dorito!” Richie was a couple of steps above them, holding a perfectly orange triangle. He had spoked directly to Bill that had huffed.

  
“For just one Dorito?”

  
“If you don’t mike it quick it will be zero.” Bill then leaped every couple of steps and started running the track field. Richie smirked and ate the chip.

  
“Just wait for him to come back without air. Won’t even know what happened.” Eddie said, shaking his head slowly. Beverly and Mike laughed and a buzz of conversation grew among them until Bill got back and started fighting with Richie.

  
“Gosh ladies just take the rest of the package.” Beverly said as she wiped the orange dust out of her hands. “So there’s going to be a party at Richie’s house and I would love to invite you but I’m not sure if you have passed the test.” She spoke to Stan.

  
“What test?”

  
“Oh so you haven’t heard?” She quirked one eyebrow.

  
“Oh god Bev” Ben said.

  
“You love me.”

  
“You know I do.” She flashed Ben a smile but turned back to Stan in a couple of seconds.  
“Anyway, Stan, you have to play a soneto to all of us. Like right now.” Stan was sure she probably didn’t even know what a soneto was, he still followed her request. It was fine amusing others sometimes. Other times he just couldn’t stand anyone.

  
He got up and went down some steps. He played an easy melody that came to his mind. He could see Bill smiling at him. When he ended they all clapped and Richie went as for as whistling. He thanked them quietly. They talked some more and when they decided to leave Richie clapped him on the back once again.

  
“My house, Friday, six p.m.”

  
“I don’t know where your fucking house is.”  
“Well you’ll find out.”

  
Stan walked home, he bus had left a while ago. He was gripping his backpack straps. Watching the leftovers of the sunset plaint the suburban houses that were planted on the streets. It all looked like a picture, too still but he hadn’t felt like that with his new friends. It had felt fun, like they could outshine the sun and fly higher than birds.  



	2. Quest

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Me: ok were not going to be biased and self insert our feelings in the characters  
Also me:writes

It was a new day and Stan felt kinda dead. He wasn’t tired, at least not physically, he was bored—and he hadn’t even arrived at school. He was at home, eating breakfast with his parents. They were talking but his mind kept dulling their voices. Some days it was just like that, a bit of teenage angst and all that. Or maybe mornings were at fault because usually he found himself laughing a lot during lunch with other teens.

  
Stan’s mother dropped him off at school ten minutes earlier than his first class. The hallways were still on that phase between half empty and half full. He leaned against a wall and took a magazine out of his backpack. He had brought this months special National Geographic that was focused on birds. The teen had been very focused on a specific category about the European Starling when a slightly loud voice spoke right besides him. When Stan looked up, he was greeted by the sight of Richie’s huge glasses and wide smile, “Well hello Stanley the manley.”

  
“Morning Richie.”

  
“Prepared for advanced chemistry?”

  
Stan shrugged, “I was monday, why wouldn’t I be today?”

  
“Because today, I will be your lab partner.” Stan gave him a smile, he prided himself for being able to work with anyone, little did he know of the ride he would be in.

  
It was known that Richie Tozier was smart and lazy and a bit stupid too. He was able to give you the smartest facts but wouldn’t know shit of common sense. Like that you weren’t supposed to try and swordfight someone with pens. When he tried to do it during the first five minutes of class, Stan tried to get away from every jab, he was not going to get his white shirt ruined. When he told that to Richie he apologized. He even adopted a serious posture and worked hard—for the first twenty minutes of their assignment.

  
“What did you conclude from this experience?” Richie read the question and made a fake thoughtful face, tapping the his own against his pursed lips. “That it’s boring as fuck to set things on fire because you will have supervision.”

  
“You skipped the other question.”

  
“Oh right. Which color did the fire acquire from each subject.” He dropped the leaf. “Its not like it got just one color. Question not well formulated.” He raised his arm to call the teacher and Stan pulled it down. Before he could pull his hand back, Richie wrapped his fingers around his and batted his eyelashes. “Oh Stanley, you could’ve just asked if you wanted to get some of this meat.”

  
Stan stared at Richie with a straight face and pulled away from his grip. He began writing their assignment again. Richie started playing with his stool, making it spin from side to side, then he turned around to greet Mike and Bev that were working on the table behind them. 

  
“Hows the work?” Richie planted birkenstock on the floor, stretching his long legs. It was weird fit in Stan’s opinion, the shoes and Hawaiian shirt. He had heard from the rest of his friends that he had been wearing that sort of clothing since seventh grade.

  
“Its fine.”Mike shrugged as he wrote something down. Unlike Richie Bem and Mike were I sitting on the stool, Stan wasn’t either.

  
When the bell rang Richie started texting and left the room with a simple bye.  
Stan then went with Mike to history class. His new friend gave him some advices on how to handle their teacher. The man liked to over explain things but if you paid attention you could figure out some of the things that he would be asking in the tests.

  
P.E class was with Eddie and Ben but they didn’t get to talk much. At home, the teen got to read the rest of his magazine and watch a rerun of the Hobbit movies.

* * *

  
It was Friday and Stan still didn’t know anything about the party. He was sure they had forgotten about him and univiteded him. He wasn’t mad or sad about it, or at least he tried to tell himself that. He was used to not being invited to certain events, people always judged him for certain habits he had.

  
Stan had just left his last class, he was walking for his locker when Mike showed up besides him.

  
“Hey.”

  
“Hi.” Mike leaned against the lockers eyeing Stan as he left some books and got his scarf. “Eddie, Bev, Bill and Richie already left but I got my truck parked outside.”

  
“Oh, ok.”

  
“You didn’t forget did you?” He spoke in a non scolding way, almost as if it was cute if he had forgotten.

  
“No, I just thought we’d get the school bus or walk there.”

  
“Its cooler like this. Ben's waiting for us by the truck. If you wouldn’t mind I would like to hurry back. You see, people aren’t always that nice around and I- just don’t like to leave anyone alone.”

  
“Unprotected?”

  
“I guess.”

  
During the car ride Mike and Ben discussed which song they should listen to, they ended up choosing to play the smiths.

  
Richie’s house was a basic suburban one. It was bit washed out compared to the others, like it was sadder but maybe that was because the sky was starting to get filled with grey clouds.

  
The minute they entered the house they heard noise coming from the kitchen. The rest of their friends were there, making sandwiches.

  
“Any allergies we should know about?” Beverly asked as she saw Stan eye the P&J sandwiches.

  
“No.I only eat kosher though."

  
They wrapped the food in paper towels and shoved them in a bag that had juices and many other things.

  
“We’re going for a quest in the woods.” Richie prompted as he put the backpack on.

  
“We are going to play Pokemon Go but whatever.”

  
“Oh come on Eds! We know you don’t like Pokemon because your mom wouldn’t let you watch it because she though it sounded like porn.” Richie laughed and Eddie smacked him while his cheeks blushed lightly.

  
Stan wished he had brought his binoculars. The woods weren’t that vast and so far he had seen only two different species. His friends were also scaring away most animals with all their talking. Eddie and Stan were the ones that weren’t playing the game thought Mike slowed his pace and even turned off his cellphone for a while.

  
Richie was trying to climb a tree when Stan felt a fat drop of water on his forehead. Bill had spent the entire afternoon with a gloomy expression and he was the first to start walking back to Richie’s house.

  
When they got to the building they were all soaking wet and Stan was also filled with mud. He had slipped because of rock and fallen straight into a puddle. He wanted to crawl out of his skin. He was trying to come up with an excuse to get back home when Richie started directing everyone.

  
“Ok just put your shoes on the bathtub so I can clean them very quickly and then I’ll put them on the drying machine or I’ll dry them with a hair dryer, I don’t know. Just start pulling straws to see who’s first to take a shower.

  
“That sounds very little hygienic,” Eddie mumbled. “I'm second.”

  
“I can be first.” Bill offered. 

  
“I'm third.”

  
“Do you wanna go after her?” Mike asked Ben.

  
“Sure,” He shrugged.

  
“Im not really…” Stan started to say when Mike looked at him. “Its like I have nothing against you guys. I just don’t think I need to shower.”

  
“Really?” Bev asked with a laugh but it died quickly when she saw his uncomfortable face.

  
“Sorry, it’s embarrassing.”

  
“There's nothing to be embarrassed about. We’re all losers anyway.”

  
“What's wrong?” Richie asked when he came back down with a basket filled with wet shoes. Everyone looked at Stan, waiting for him to speak.

  
“I don’t really trust unknown places.” _You don't know what's been in there, what filth covers the walls_, he ended in his head.

  
“We can clean the bathtub super quickly for you, like we’ll leave it shining.”

  
Stan faked a smile and agreed. He was tired of looking like the weird one.

  
While Richie went away to fetch some towels and dry clothes he told his friends to stand in the kitchen, where it would be easier to clean the things they were getting wet.

  
Mike and Bill had both taken off their clothes, they still had their underwear and we’re using a blanket to keep themselves warm. Stan was in the process to take off his clothes off too when Bill looked at Ben and spoke rather sharply, “You can put your clothes off in the drying machine too you know? Beverly’s not here to judge.”

  
Ben stared at the floor. “She wouldn't judge me anyway,” He walked away and Stan could swear he had heard a hint of sadness in his voice, as if he was in the verge of tears.

  
“Bill,”Mike was stern, not only with his voice but with his eyes too. He yanked the blanket from bills grip and went after Ben. 

  
Stan didn’t know what to do. Bill hadn't been correct but he could see how he was shivering and how his eyes were slightly red as if he was on the verge of tears too. He got his blanket and wrapped it around both of them. They didn’t say anything to each other until Beverly called Bill to go take his shower.  
When Stan realized he was left alone in the kitchen he started wiping the floor and chairs. The he went upstairs to find everyone else. Bill was in Richie’s bedroom, a towel wrapped around his waist. Ben and Richie were cleaning the bathtube, Stan tried to help them but they ended shooing him away. He waited on the hallway, leaning against a wall, waiting for a door to open.

  
The door for Richie’s room opened and Bill got out, already dressed, holding two sweaters. One was colorful, with a red sleeve and green cuff in one arm and the other arm had a green sleeve and yellow cuff, the part of the torso was blue and in the front written with multicolor was _very cool _and a rainbow. Its turtleneck was yellows and you could tell the sweater had been worn many times_._The other one was mostly black but with a big red stripe in the sleeves and a white rectangle on the front with some letters he did not have the time to decipher.

  
The rest of the time went in a blur. Stan took his shower and got to dress his own dry clothes.

  
They were all in the living room now, watching a random movie that had been on a Chanel. Bill had left for the kitchen a while ago and Stan decided to check on him.

  
He was by the counter, gripping the sweater with the primary colors, the other one had been handed to Ben and he was currently wearing it. When he realized that Stan wasn’t planning on leaving the room anytime soon he dropped the sweater in the trash can.

  
“Why did you do that?” They were face to face now.

  
“It doesn’t matter. I was going to give it to someone but they can’t take it anymore.”

  
“It's still a waste.”

  
“You can keep it if you want,” And with that he left the room.

  
Stan scrunched his nose, he didn’t want the trash shirt, it wasn’t even his style, still he took it. He shoved it in a plastic bag and put it inside his backpack. He still didn’t know what he would do with it. Richie would probably have saved it for bill anyway.

  
He got back into the living room and watched Atlantis. When the movie ended he texted his dad to come pick him up.

  
“Sorry this party got kinda depressing.” Richie said as he walked Stan to his car with a see trough umbrella.

  
“Don’t worry. Next time we can have a real party. Not a depressing quest in the woods.”

  
“Sure dude,” Richie laughed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Can you believe??? A fic about kids in a school band with a chapter that doesn't even mention instruments  
Also I know some of the characters r ooc but that's because this is an au and they have had different experiences from canon that made them become different" or maybe I'm just a bad writer, u be the judge


	3. Chapter 3

Trough the week Stanley kept hanging out with his friends. On Monday, during English class, Mike told him that Bill and Bev had dated for two weeks. She had received a poem and though it was from the him. Turns out the poem was actually from Ben, the thing was that so far he hadn’t told her that. That new found information made Stan realize the big mess he was in, the worse was that perhaps he didn’t want to get out. It felt as if they all had a weird connection with eachother, like they were pieces of a puzzle and were just meant to fit together.

* * *

  
“Why are you always here? Shouldn’t you be rehearsing for the school play or something?” Stan asked during another band meeting day.

  
“I’m part of the theater club but I couldn’t leave my Eddie spaghetti all by himself.” Eddie rolled his eyes.

  
“I’m not alone, obviously, and even if I was, I would be alright.”

  
“Next year you can always join the music club, Richie.” Ben wasn’t a fool. He had seen how most of the theater members treated Bev and Rich. He knew acting was what they wanted to do but he would still try to help them out.

  
“I’ve been on the theater club since ever. I don’t feel like changing, it’s too much of na hassle. I don’t know how Bill and Mike do it.”

  
“I quite baseball for real. I’m staying at the music club.” Bill stated.

  
“And we all know football is what I really want, I’m just here because of you guys.”

  
“What about you, Stan? Did you always want to be on the music club?”

  
“Well I wanted to get on a birdwatching club but there was none here.”

  
“Pretty sure no school has a birdwatching club.”

  
The teacher entered the room and they kept talking just more quietly, ignoring whatever the man was saying, “Listen up students were going to go the school auditorium now so take your instruments with you. Bill, the pianos already there.”  
The students started talking more loudly as the changed rooms, the group walked rather lazily compared to them.

  
“We usually play for the theater club,” Eddie explained to Stan.

  
When they got to the back of the auditorium it was nearly empty. All of the members were on the stage. The actors sat on a circle, reading their lines. Down the back of the stage a group of teens painted a mural with the supervision of a teacher. The school usually liked to make all the clubs work together.  
Richie and Beverly joined the rest of actors discreetly.

  
Stan was helping Eddie and Mike when someone from the theater club asked him to go backstage and get a scrip. He was walking across a hallway when he heard voices.

  
“I’m sorry if I was too rude.”

  
“Its fine, Bill.” Ben spoke in his usual soft voice.

  
“No, it’s not. None of you should have to tolerate my behavior.” He paused for some seconds and Stan became aware that he was pretty much spying on them. “Why are you smiling?”

  
“You kinda sound like a middle aged man.” Stan started walking again and crossed paths with his friends that were talking in front of the door that lead to the room he needed to go to. They smiled at each other. Stan quickly grabbed what he was pretty sure was the spare script and went back to the stage.

* * *

  
They had spent forty-five minutes practicing the main songs for the play when the teachers finally gave them a break. Richie and Beverly started talking with Ben, Eddie and Mike. Bill told them he needed to get some water to which Richie had said: “You’re not even singing dude! Have you been doing any other mouth exercises.” And then proceeded to wiggle his eyebrows suggestively.  
Stan and Mike sat on the piano bench. The taller teen started playing a familiar tune but Stan couldn’t quite place what it was.

  
“How many instruments do you know how to play?”

  
“Just one, really. I know a thing or two from the piano and other instruments but I could never play them.”

  
“What’s this? You guys are assaulting Betsy?” Bill smiled, water bottle on his left hand.

  
“What?”

  
Mike laughed, “What’s with you and naming objects?” Bill kept smiling and shrugged, he walked behind Stan and Mike and started playing the theme song for super Mario. The two teens that were sitting on the bench grinned and started mouthing the game sounds. Mike then saw the rest of their friends laughing about something and joined them in less than a heartbeat, saying a joke as he got up from the bench.

  
Bill took his place in front of the piano, he brushed his bangs out of his forehead and Stan stiffed a laugh.

  
“Do you like super Mario?”

  
“Who doesn’t.” Stan replied.

  
“You should come over my house one day. Maybe we could play.”

  
“Smooth Denbrough.” Stan got up as the teacher told them it was time to start practicing again.

* * *

  
It was a bit cold outside. Stan was waiting for his mom to pick him up. His friends had already left, half of them had gotten the bus and the rest had either walked or driven themselves home.

  
“Did you see him?” A girl with blonde hair asked her friend.

  
“Who?” The second girl was on her phone, listening to some music, she took one earbud off.

  
“Bill. He’s kinda hot you know. It’s a shame what happened to his brother. Now we can no longer see that boothy on the baseball team.”

  
“God have you even seen his family. Wouldn’t be surprised if they were involved in it.” They started giggling like middle schoolers, as if they hadn’t just been accusing someone. Stan was still looking at them discreetly when he saw his mother arrive. During the car ride he saw birds nesttle on tree branches and wandered what happened to Bill's brother.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I usually try to update every three days but I have so much anxiety rn because of school, I don't know how that will affect me


	4. frog:-)

During Thursday the clouds never left the sky and the rain never stopped falling. Therefore the school canteen was filled to the brim and the losers club was currently trying to find a place to eat.

  
“Maybe we should gh-give up.” Bill swallowed harshly. “Lets eat on the hallway.”  
“You know someone will tell us we can’t do that? And they’ll make us come back here.” The teen with auburn hair shrugged and walked away. Richie followed quickly, sporting a small smile.

  
The hallway was pretty much empty and they all sat down in a line, their backs to the white wall. On the opposite wall there was a big window that showed the school's sports field. You could see the trees that drew the end of the school property, nearly fading with the rain and fog. The fat drops of water splashed on the windows and created streaming tears.

  
“I don’t really like rainy days,” Bill prompted. “They make me feel sad.”  
After a couple of seconds Mike inched closer to Bill, “If you ever want to talk about it, you can, you know that right?” Bill nodded and proceeded to eat his sweet peas. None of the conversations interested Stan that much, so he ended up listening to some random songs he had saved on his cellphone. He only had five and he heard them in a loop.

  
“Are we still going to your house later?” Ben asked. They had planned it, the day before, to go to Bill’s house and play some games. Bill only nodded in affirmative.  
“I can give us a ride to your place,” Mike informed.

  
“Shut it with your special plans. Can we please go to the computer's room?” Richie asked. Eddie, Beverly and him werent able to participate in the gather that was happening at Bill's house.

  
“Why do you even need to go there? So you can look up porn?”

  
“My dear Eds, why do I need porn when I have your mother waiting for me?” Eddie snickered because of the retort and Beverly's laugh filled the hallway.  
At the end of the afternoon they all met each other by Mike’s truck. The ride was almost like the last one but this time there was no fight because of the music. They let Bill choose instead.

  
They parked on the Denbrough's driveway. It was empty because both of his parents were working. They ran from the truck to the door even though it was only a light rain falling.

  
“Did you finish the history homework?” Ben asked as he dropped his backpack behind the living room couch.

  
“N-no. No school talk.”

  
“Calm down Billy.” Mike hugged Bill from behind with a playful smile. “And yeah I did it.”

  
“Lets just play. I took this out of the attick for y’all.” Bill insisted. They all laughed, it was known that Richie and Bill spent most nights playing together. And if you spared a single glance at the game console you could see it had been set down on the same place for a while.

* * *

  
They had been playing for an hour when someone proposed that they should get some food. Mike and Ben had offered themselves to get it from the kitchen but it had already been fifteen minutes.

  
“I hope they didn’t break anything.”

  
“i’ll go check on them.” Stan got up from the couch and as he drew closer to the kitchen he realized there was no noise coming from it, he almost expect for no one to be there. But when he looked into the room he saw Ben and Mike kissing.  
“Oh” slipped from Stan before he could even realize. The two teens broke away and looked at him like deers caught in headlights. They didn’t talk about it for the rest of the afternoon per se, it stayed as an understanding between the three.   
Bill arched an eyebrow as he saw them approach. Ben was slightly flushed and Mike was still giddy.

  
Half an hour passed and Bill proposed something new after looking at his friend’s bored faces, “We could play a different game. A more real one.” He got up from the couch and took Monopoly from a shelf.  
“Monopoly is not a real game.”

  
“And maybe you’re not a real human being.” Mike joked.

  
They set the game on a different side of the living room, near a piano.  
“It’s my mother’s.” Bill wiped the dust that sat atop of it and played the beginning of a piece that came to his mind, it was the same that his mother used to play. “She thought me some of the stuff that I know.”

  
The game started and Ben went to jail almost every time that was his turn. Bill started off by spending his money carelessly and Mike was too stubborn to spend any of his. At that instant minute Stan knew he was going to win.

* * *

  
“I have to go.” Ben said as he read something from his cellphone. They were still playing Monopoly but after the fourth time Ben went into jail he got more distracted.

  
“I’ll give you a ride.”

  
Mike and Ben left and it was raining harder again. The grass on the front was soaked.

  
“It’s not fun just the two of us.” Bill said while he looked at the Monopoly game  
“You’re only saying that because I’m obviously way ahead of you “ They smiled at each other.

  
“C’mon. I’ll sing you a song. I’ll even do a dance if you want.”

  
“Actually I should be leaving soon anyway.”

  
Bill glanced at the clock, “Already?” He asked, keeping to himself that in reality he just didn’t want to be left alone.

  
“i mean. It will still take my dad some minutes to arrive so I’m not leaving _already_.”

  
“Oh, ok. Do you like comics? I have some in my bedroom.” That was an old trick, before that was how Bill had made friends before he met Richie and Eddie.  
“Already trying to take me in your bedroom?” Stan laughed but let himself be pulled by Bill into different rooms.

  
The house hallways looked dark, most likely because of the grey weather. The walls were filled with pictures, Stan couldn’t find one where Bill looked to be older than fourteen. He stopped in front of a perfectly square picture. There was Bill with a baseball uniform smiling brightly with a younger boy besides him.   
“M-My bruh-brother,” Bill pursed his lips as he pointed to the younger boy. “Georgie.”

  
Stan felt his throat close a little, a question stuck, _what happened to him?_

* * *

  
Tem minutes had passed and they were still in Bill’s bedroom. They were laying on his bed, reading a comic that Stan had never heard of before. His friend was currently trying to explain it all to him. Arms and legs pressed together as little kids. Then Stan’s phone buzzed and he read aloud his father’s text. He was lost and was waiting for Stan at the end of the street.

  
“I’ll take you there. I have an umbrella downstairs.” Bill put on his boots while Stan got his things. Downstairs, before opening the door Bill looked at Stan one more time.

  
“I forgot my scarf on my locker.” Stan said hand mindlessly touching his exposed neck.

  
“Wait I think I have a spare scarf around here—” Bill started picking up the jackets that were hanging up near the front door. He stilled his movements as his hand brushed a tiny green scarf. At the ends it had pockets shaped like a frogs head.  
It happened so fast. It only took a blink of Stan’s eyes, and there were tears falling from Bill’s eyes, “sss-sorry.”

  
Stan was left speechless. He imagined that it had to do with his brother.  
“It wah-was hiss fav-fav-favourite scarf.” Bill was fully sobbing, wrapping his arms around his own torso. The wool sleeves of his sweater, too big for his arms, hiding his hands and hanging off on the side. “Im suh-suh- sorry.” He left out in a broken sob.

  
“It’s alright.” Stan said and he decided to hug his friend. He looked like he needed it, more than he had the entire day. “You know when I feel something hunt me, I like to listen to some music to kinda of drown my thoughts.” He got his cellphone from his back pocket, thankfully he had his headphones too. He put an earbud in Bill’s ear, the other he put on his. It started off with a piano and then a voice broke in, singing. The song itself had a sort of bittersweet melody but it helped transfer your own paint to it, or at least that’s what Stan thought.

  
The teen texted his father an excuse he knew he would not accept that easily.  
They stayed in front of the piano for a while, still hugging. Stan swayed them a little, as if he was trying to comfort a newborn baby, too scared of the harsh world. Then they moved to the couch. A blanket wrapped around them. Bill fell asleep after stating that he could feel a headache because he had cryed way too much. Stan knew his hair was probably tickling Bill's neck and cheek but none of them made any try to change their current postion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They r listening to Donna by the Lumineers in the beginning and then they just listen to the rest of the III album


	5. cold lasagna

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter ain't much but it's honest work  
Also sorry if my pacing is all off, I want to blame it on the anxiety school offers me

Everything was a bit blurred for Bill. He had barely opened his eyes, an attempt to leave his slumber, to see Stan leave but then he fell asleep just as quickly. When he finally woke he could hear noise in the kitchen. On the coffee table there was a folded paper that he was pretty sure could’ve only been left by Stan. The teen picked it up and walked to the kitchen, his fluffy socks made so his steps had very little noise. That’s how he felt sometimes too, as silent as leaf dropping from a branch. And if no one heard you, did you even exist at all? He asked himself.

  
“Hey mom.”

  
“Oh, hey Bill.” She was washing the dishes, they had probably already had dinner. “There are some leftovers in the fridge,” He nodded but made no sign of moving, at least not while she was there. “Did you touch the piano?”

  
Bill took a deep breath, “Yeah, I d-did.” His mother nodded, dried her hands on a handkerchief and left.

  
Inside the fridge there was a tupperware with lasagna. Bill took it and decided to eat directly from it, these days there was no one to scowl him anyway. He ate besides the counter and opened Stan’s note.

  
Sorry that I had to leave, I wanted to prepare some hot cocoa for you but because I couldn’t here’s my special recipe.

  
There wasn’t anything special about the recipe but it still made Bill smile. His heart was warm and it felt like there was a hive in the place of his stomach. It felt dangerous but nice too, part of him was still afraid of loving someone and then losing them. Another part of him just couldn’t escape what he felt for Stan.

* * *

  
By Friday the rain was gone and the sun had dried everything.

  
They were enjoying their last free twenty minutes of the day, before they had to go to their clubs. The gang was on a secluded corner outside of the main building, smoking.

  
“Thats what she said.” Richie fired back before he started drinking from his milk box again.

  
Bev had wanted to smoke. She was currently pacing a cig with Bill. When she had seen Stan looking she had offered him a drag.  
“Yeah sure,” Stan took a drag easily and breathed the smoke out. Sometimes he smoked when he was really anxious.

  
“For real? I wouldn’t have guessed it Stan the Man.”

  
“I bet you can’t imagine the things your mother and I do either?” Everyone laughed a little even Ben that was busy writing something on his notebook.

  
“Oh! Stan gets off a good one.”

  
“When you guys finish smoking I think we should start heading for the auditorium. Bev and Rich have already arrived late too many times.”

  
“Thanks for the concern, Mikey.” Richie patted his chest.

  
When they were walking back their voices echoed on the hallways and for once Stan felt like he could be a main character in a movie. It was odd but also comforting.

* * *

  
All through practice Bill kept looking at Stan. It reminded him of the first day he had seen him. He had been so close to him and he just couldn’t not look. Unfortunately the best thing that occurred to him to start a conversation was to point out one of his mistakes.

  
Now Stan was more precise even when he shared a look with Eddie and willed himself to smile. Or when he bit the tip of tongue in concentration. His music was flawless and lovely.

  
Bill kept reminding himself that it was a bit weird to stare, he wasn’t a psychopath. During the rehearsal break he let himself get close to Stan again. He had been practicing inside his head a way to ask Stan out but it probably wasn’t ideal that he had had a breakdown with him the other day. He could at least try to explain himself. Hopefully his stutter would stick to his lane and not bother him.

  
“Hey Stan.”

  
“Hi Bill, how’s it going.”

  
“You know, just chilling killing.” He smiled briefly at what he thought was a funny retort. “im sorry for how I acted the other day. I know I must’ve looked a bit crazy-“

  
“What? It’s fine Bill.”

  
“Really? I just- I’m still-you know- because of-“

  
“You don’t need to apologize so many time you know. You can also talk to me. Or if you want, you also don’t need to tell me a thing.”

  
“Im just afraid that you’ll think I’m weird or something.”

  
“We're all a bit weird.”

  
Bill smiled, “I know but I wuh-worry about what you’ll think of me.” Stan arched an eyebrow, asking for further explanation. “I like you. And I wuh-worry like t-to take you on a date. We could go to the movies or something. I just don’t want to make things weird between us. Is it weird?”

  
“It is dude” Richie said as he passed by them.

  
“It isn’t. And sure, I wouldn’t mind it. You’re nice to be with.” Stan was bit flushed and Bill-who was blushing too- felt a bit better inside, knowing that he wasn’t the only one feeling a bit lovesick. 

* * *

  
Stan was freaking out a bit when he started playing again. He still didn’t know what he felt for Bill. Yeah, he was good-looking, good with his words and also good at the piano. There was so much that you could like about Bill. Stan wasn’t one to fall for someone easily but deep down he felt that he was falling for Bill, pretty quickly.


	6. tangerine

It was Sunday and Stan woke a little later than usual. That still didn’t stop him from following his usual routine so he took his usual 10 minutes shower. Got dressed with the clothes he had chosen they day before.

  
On his bedroom he decided to take a picture of a bird sitting on a nearby tree branch. It was the best thing on Stan’s bedroom, from time to time he could see birds hop on the ancient tree. The teen got his cellphone and when he unlocked it he saw that he had some unread texts. Still, the bird was more important. Only after taking the picture did he check the messages.

  
**[Richie, 09:21am] Staniel!!**

  
**[Richie, 09:21am] wanna go out for breakfast?**

  
**[Richie, 09:22am] I promise I’ll be there on time**

  
**[Richie, 09:22am] also the place has kosher food:-)**

  
Stan sighed with a smile and accepted his friends invitation. Thankfully the location was close so he could ride his bike to it, he actually had visited the place once with his parents so there was no trouble finding it. The teen took his baby blue scarf thought the wind was still sharp against his skin. Thankfully the café they were eating at was warm and buzzing with the small group of people that were also there.

  
“You can like eat a pizza or a bagel or just drink a green juice,” Richie was rambling has he looked at the menu.

  
“So like, any other place a hipster would eat at?”

  
“Yeah, but this is the only good one in Derry. Also some really pretty people work here,” Richie adjusted his glasses and the two teens stepped forward as the person that was ahead of them had finished ordering. In front of the register box was no other, Eddie Kaspbrak. “So I see you haven’t been fired.”

  
“Go-“ Eddie looked at his co-workers and cleared his throat, “Even if I get fired you’re mother will shelter.”

  
“That actually sounds lovely Eds, getting to share everything with you.”  
Eddie rolled his eyes, “What would you like to get today?”

  
“I want a bagel with chocolate and marshmallow, please.”

  
“That doesn’t exist.”

  
“C'mon eds! You get a bagel and drop some chocolate and marshmallow on top. It’s not for me, it’s for your mom.”

  
“Ill see what I can get.” Eddie said sceptically and then he out on a more neutral face to look at Stan, that was still trying to choose. He would’ve asked for a milkshake even if he were lactose intolerant but the simple thought of how many people could’ve drunk from the glasses made him change his mind. He ended up ordering an avocado bagel because they came with a discardable paper wrapped around it.

  
“So, Stan the man. I heard you’re interested in Billiam,” Richie stated as they sat down by their table.

  
“What?” Stan could feel his cheeks heat up a bit.

  
“I see, not even going to deny it, you could just as well sing a song about it.”

  
“Everyone else can see you like Eddie too you know.”

  
“Of course I like him, he’s my friend.” Stan gave him a look that said,”you know that’s not what I mean” they stayed quiet for a bit until Richie broke the silence. “is it that obvious?”

  
“Nah,” It was a bit obvious, still Stan wanted to reassure his friend. “but maybe try to like not make that many your mom jokes or you’ll both end up marrying each others moms.” Richie smiled.

  
“i was going to ask him out for homecoming this year but I ended up chickening out.”

  
“You always have next year.” Richie nodded and smiled as he saw Bem come over to their table. He was wearing a white apron and under he had clothes similar to the ones Eddie had been wearing.

  
“you guys mind if I join you during my break?” he was holding the food Richie and Stan had asked for and he also had na orange.

  
“Just sit down Haystack.” Richie patted the seat next to him and Ben took it.  
“how are you guys?” Ben started peeling his orange

  
Richie signed and dropped his head on Ben’s shoulder “not straight and a chicken.”

  
“What?”

  
“You know, just rich being rich.” At that his friends huffed and strained himself. “How is everything, Ben?”

  
“It’s been good. Mike and I went hiking the other day to this really nice place. We should all go there one day too. I saw lots of bird and I tried to take some pics.”

  
“What kind of birds?”

  
Richie roles his eyes, “So, you and Mike?” he bumped his shoulders with his friend. Ben blushed really heavily and quickly. He smiled a little and noded “how did we all end up being so gay.” Richie sighed.

* * *

  
Stan was helping Richie clean their table before they left the café. They had already said their goodbyes to their friends and were about to leave when Stan’s phone buzzed.

  
**[Bill,10:34] how about going to the movies tomorrow?**

  
The teen smiled and replied, agreeing.

  
At home he helped his father cook lunch and played chess with his mother. During the afternoon he did some homework but when he was finally free he decided to play his violin. All trough the day he hadn’t stopped thinking about bill, his heart giddy.

  
During some time he used to practice playing every single day but now he only played it every other day. At his previous house he heard one of his neighbor play flute-rather badly. Stan hoped his music would reach his neighbors too and that it would make them happy, as happy as he was.

  
Right when he started he knew he was off key, way too hurried, which made him skip some notes as he tried to maneuver his fingers. After five minutes of playing he gave up, looking into the mirror and smiling. Nothing before had ever made him not want to stop playing, Stan was happy that it was something good filling him with joy. Still he went back to play and he only stopped near dinner time.

Stan was at the living room with his parents, he was questioning if he should text someone to scream about his feelings. He ended up texting both Richie and Ben because they were the ones that had been with him earlier and that had already shared their own feelings too. In the end, his friends excitement only made him get more excited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry if the chapters have been getting shorter and shorter, life just been really wacky lately and that has made my concentration go away. There are also some dynamics that I would like to explore in this fic but I always feel like I'm dragging things out. Next chapter will be the date uwu  
Why is the human being the way it is, I am tired


	7. Date

Stan had been waiting in front of the movie theater for about eight minutes. It was partly his fault because he always made sure he arrived on time which lead him to arrive earlier than necessary. But the thing was, that Bill was at fault too. He didn’t live that far away from the place they were supposed to meet so he had no excuse. Little did Stan know that Bill was at home, overreacting about which one of his four flannels he should wear.

  
Five minutes later Bill arrived, huffing as he locked a chain around his bike and a metal post. He also had a huge backpack on his back.

  
“I was th-thinking that maybe we could s-ssomething else. Watching a muh-movie isn’t that productive for a first date.”

  
“So what do you propose?” Bill felt himself relax as he heard the answer.

  
“We could go to the park and try to spot cute birds? Unless you pruh-prefer to watch the muh-movie.”

  
“All birds are cute birds and yeah I'd like to go to the park. It’s funny, I haven’t been there yet.”

  
Bill showed Stan the way. They had to cross the main Street and walk besides some buildings to get to the park. The place itself wasn’t that much of a big deal. It was sorta of big, like a rectangle. There was a concrete path for people to walk and there were placed with grass and trees, that were getting naked as fall grew older.

  
“That seems like a nice place,” Bill indicated a shadowy place by a tree. The two teens walked there and Bill took a big green blanket out of the backpack, Stan helped him set it up.

  
“I hope there aren’t any spiders around here,” he mumbled silently as he sat down on the blanket. Bill kept taking things out of his backpack. Stan picked up a big thermo and asked him what was inside.

  
“Tea.”

  
Stan arched an eyebrow, “So dirty water?”

  
“Tea is not dirty water!” Stan made a disagreeing face. “Then what the fuck is coffee?”

  
“A blessing from the gods?” They laughed and when Bill finished taking everything out of the backpack, he sat down besides Stan.

  
“Is this a good place to birdwatch?”

  
“It’s nice but the point of this isn’t to look for birds.

  
“It isn’t?

  
“No,” Stan laughed. “the point is to get to know you.”

  
“oh. Well you already know my name. And I like to watch baseball games.”

  
“I like to do that too.”

  
“I like to draw.”

  
“Then, will you paint me like one of your french girls?” They giggled like young kids and stared at each other with longing.

  
“its a shame I don’t have my sketchpad with me.” Bill wrapped an arm around Stan's shoulders. “what bird is that?”

  
“Its a pigeon.” The teen rolled his eyes. Bill remembered that Stan was usually touch averse so he drew back. Stan smiled and pulled him by the hand to get closer to him once again. 

"I actually have never watched titanic," Bill stated and he took a pink flask out of his jacket pocket.

“soap bubbles?” Bill blew some and they watched them drift away.

* * *

  
The afternoon was starting to get cloudy and the two teens were now laying down, watching the clouds move slowly. They hoped it wouldn’t rain but their hopes were crushed as small drops of water splashed their face.

  
“Fuckfuckfuck” Bill tried to shove everything back into the backpack. Stan tried to help him and they ended up hurrying back to the movie atrium.

  
“I have a spare sweater.” Stan said as he saw Bill shivering.

  
“You need it too.”

  
“you need it more.” They stared at each other for some seconds and Bill quit as he had to take a deep breath from feelings the cold get to his heart. He dressed Stan’s sweater in the bathroom and he put his wet clothes in a plastic bag.  
“I called my dad and he is coming to pick us up. I hope you don’t mind meeting my parents but I guess our best chance is to go to my place.” Bill agreed with a nod.

The rest of the afternoon went by in a breeze. Bill enjoyed meeting Stan’s parents and talking to them, they also let them watch titanic in the living room. They holded each others hands for a while during it. When they went to the laundry room to get Bill's clothes Stan gave him a peck in the cheek, still Bill blushed for the rest of the week

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you've gotten this far uwie thanks  
Sorry this chapter was so rushed but honestly there's not much I can do, I planned this story that has no conflict so yeah  
Also initially this was going to be a poly losers fic and then I thought of doing a Ben/Mike/bill/Stan fic but this is what we all got so, just wanted to share this fact idk


End file.
